Regenerative range tracking apparatus



April 11, 1950 H. K. wElss REGENERATIVE RANGE TRACKING APPARATUS Original Filed June 18, 1942 wvmcyr, I-I ERBA-ERT K WEIES Patented Apr.11,19so 2,503,310

UNITED STATI-:s PATENT eFH-CE REGENER'ATIV E RANGE TRACKING APPARATUS HerbertK. Weiss;".loppa`,'Md. Y ,Drginal tapplication .I une y18j-1942, "SeriaPNo,

-f 447,556, now -Patent No. 2,4L33l006,edatedDev cember 23, 1947. Dividedvandthis application September 4,1947, Serial No.-772',039 A '5"Claimvs'. (01." 23S-61.5)

k(Granted underthe act. of Marehg3,f,1ss'3,eas amended Aprl'30, 19281137010. .G. 757) F'I'heinvention,descrbedherein may be kma-nu- Vra.te,-to"produoe af.resultantmovementfprop rfacturedl and used by. or forthe Government for tional torangerate. A; ;governm :ntal purposes, :Without the Apayment* to In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a schematic viewshow- ,fme of any royalty-thereon. fing the variable"speed'drivesrthe 'manualfcontroL Thisapplieation isa .divisionof my copending and their'connection andv interrelation and EigfZ application, Serial rNumber 447,556, filed June 18, tisafdiagram-i to explain'vthefprinciple uponffwhzch z1942 now Patent l2,433,006, granted Dec. 23, .1947. ztheinstrumenteoperates. Int the earlier and parent caserI have disclosed "InFi'g.?2,rlet"Do--equal the presentslant.` range kseveral-species of..a regenerative trackingmechof themtarget.T,1Dm?theleast'fslant4 range :ofilthe ALanisrn incorporating means forl generatingA rates, -target'pathfmeasured hydropping aperpendicuproportional 4'v0.Sgl-'tm/R02,where Sg is the Alinear Ilanfrom'ithe location 'P ofthe-tracking'instru- :speedof a target beingtrackedand assumed to :mentitovsaidzpathyand I zfthedistance alongithe f: be4 constant, Rm is .theminimum rangerfrom the target?pathffrom' the present' target 'position'fito tracking point, ofthe target patl'nand Re is .the Acrosseoverforr the pointQ-fof'i 'least' 'slantfrange instantaneous or present range of the etarget. i'Then rSince the speed-and courseof-thetarget are asj'D02- 4Y2-FDm2 ,(1) sumedtozremain;constant, the Vonl kvariable in :the termis R0. ,This variable inthe secies shown, *Dlerenplatmg '(1) 'mh respect to tlmeland re' introduced, from'a range finder of conventional membermg thatDm asia* constant @type and a rate proportional to the'reciprocal of 20 V`l'Dd Do'YY' ft2) the instantaneousirange is obtained by varying y y the output .speed of a variable. speed deviceJoy 'Duerentlatmg'(2)`W1threspect tamme d means of a cam having a lift proportional to. the L"l/dif(BOY'DU') ='"'Y"Y''-I(Y')2 (3) ,range when rotated fromfsmd' range nder by an W. Since the, target speed isA assumed to benonstant eamountproportional to-range. 'MJ

Y. Y V0..and` (3)..beoomes It isphysically'1mposs1ble-to manually track-.a A l moving target ina vpreciseand:smoothmanner. 'fd/V030 D0 Y )2:32 '(4) `It-is equally impossible to effect ayprecise and fsmootl'i adjustment. of -av range.. finder vto the in- Y'-jsthe Speedf '611 target along? 'path TQ: and v Smntaneous range of suchvatarget. vForlqesel zisass'umedtozbeconstant- 4:lt follows-that; under reasonsr it is highlywdesimble hat the range :im :thevassumed conditions theproduct` of slant range Aput .to themechanism coveredby my prorc sand: slantz.-rangerate::is1constantfand:a;-rnotion pending application, be smoothed .prior to intr'oproportionaltousuchmprqduch 'maybe utlhzedlto .I- du'ctioninto smhl mechanism yf'modifya motion'proportlonalto inverse'rangemo ACC01diI1g1y, itis apurposel of the present in, l35 'provide aresultant motion proportional tura-nge ventionto `provide a. manually controlled, Avari- "fateaone- 'TlfuSlS-theprmclple up0n`wh1ch my ableV speed deviceior driving therangea' adjustinventon'operatesl .-'1I1ent.of; a. range lnder. lteferring'V in detail; to the Y,draWingW-l l identifies AeLsecond purpose is to Aprovide airegenerative "95'handwhelmountedupon Oneend Of'a Shaft 2- .;tdrivei for-the rangeinput 0f a, range finder which A0TTfheiother'eridoffthisY shaftisconnectedfto one ivariesthe rateof such input in. a mathematically" fSd'aA dierenti'als' A 'second .51de offsdiffer' correct manner. 5ential 3E sfconnected'with ashaftlVhaving-its A third4 purpose .isto ,provide a regenerative other end Connected t0 theflfange' djusfment "f drive. for. la .rangev finder. wherein because .of the f a' Conventionl' range mide?" not ShOWTYlfeature mentionedin .the precedingpurposa the, Shaftlisconnected to drive' a sha1-t5 by' means .-rangender.adjustmentbecomes.automaticV after f'bevel gears 5i ShaftadbeVeTgea'S'B- g'shft :,ashort period-,of-trackingzand remains` so, as. long 51S' Connected' Wdrve one' Side' Qffa'fdeleifta 9 as lthe target.. continues v.in .straight v. 1ineunac- "Whoseremaining' tWOfSdeS are" connected 'respc' celerated movement. tively W'ithja shaft l Il'v and theoutput element" or vf'Afourthpurposeis tovprovidel a regenerative 5o"r`0ller' I I vcfa rst variable speed devicegene'rally rangetracking device whereinrthe adjustments identie'd bythe'numer'al I2.

of zthe. ralfxger finder-ara fed backfvto ,produce a. ".The' input; element orjdisk. .l 35, of. variable, speed .f-:movementliavingaa rate inversely proporti'onalto .ldevice. l.2f 1is;'driven oveixshaft I libby' aiconstant ageneratedrangeawhieh moyementis. varied inacajspeeclmotor l 5. The rollen I Lis; driven-:ata'speed fcofdance 'with thegproduct fof range fand range l55proportional.. to .thev radial adjustment relatively and shaft 32.

to disk I3, of speed varying element or ball cage I5. Adjustment of cage I6 is eected by a rack I1 and pinion I8 fixed to shaft 5.

The rotation of range input shaft 4 is fed back by means of gears I9, shaft 20, gears 2l, shaft 22, and worm and gear 23, to effect proportional rotation of a cam 24 designed to give to rod 25, a lift proportional to its rotation.

Rod 25 is connected to move ball cage 26l of a variable speed device 21, radially inwardly of disk 2B which may be driven at constant speed from motor I5 by means of gears 29, shaft 30, gears 3I, The roller or output element 33 of `variable speed device 21 is thus driven at a rate linversely proportional to the generated range and is connected by way of shaft 34, gears 35 and n. shaft 36, to drive disk 31 of a third variable speed device 38 whose ball cage or speed varying element 39 is adjusted by rack 40, in mesh withy pinion 4 I, fixed to shaft IIJ. The roller or output element 42 of variable speed device 38, is connected by shaft 43 to drive a third side of differential 3.

In operation, the operator while looking into `the eyepiece of the range nder, adjusts' handwheel I. Adjustment passes by shaft 2 through differential 3 to shaft 4 thereby controlling the range adjustment of the range finder in the manner necessary to focus the same upon the .toi cam 24 which displaces the ball cage 26 of --variable speed device 21 inversely proportional to generated slant range. 'Ihe rate of the output of variable speed device 21 is therefore in- This output g justments of handwheel I is required. If the circuit constants have been chosen correctly, the position of shaft IIJ is the product of range and range rate; that is, D0', Do, which, in accordance with the previously-developed equation, changes at a constant rate. Disk 31 is rotated at a rate corresponding to l/Dn, as previously explained. Hence output shaft 43 and shaft 4 after the device reaches a steady state, are driven at a rate proportional to D0 D0 1/Do that is, in

accordance with Do', the rate of change of range.

It should be noted that, should variable speed device I2 be eliminated, the system is an aided tracking circuit with aiding ratio increasing with range. By making device I 2 somewhat sluggish in response to turning of handwheel I, the respense characteristics of the circuit as revealed to the operator, will be similar to those of a good aided tracking circuit.

Thus, I have provided a range regenerating circuit which, after a relatively shortv period of adjustment, correctly regenerates range and which will thus act to maintain the range finder correctly focused upon the target soflong as the latter maintains constant course and speed.

While I have shown a preferred form of range regenerating apparatus as now known to me, various substitutions of equivalents and rearrangements of parts, will readily occur to those skilled in the art after a study of thepresent disclosure. `The disclosure should thus be taken in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense, and I'desire The adjustment of shaft 4 is fed back to reserve all changes falling within the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having now fully disclosed the invention, what I claim is:

l. In a range regenerating apparatus for a range nder, a differential, a manually operable device and a range input element for direct mechanical connection with the range finder, said device and element being connected with two sides of said diierential, respectively, a variable speed device having its output element connected to drive a third side of said diierential, means operated b v said element for driving said variable speed device at a rate proportional to inverse range, and means under control of said manually operable device for adjusting the speed varying element of said device in accordance with the product of range and range rate of a moving target tracked by said range nder.

2. In a range regenerating drive for a range finder having a range input element connected to directly operate the range adjustment of the finder, a differential, a handwheel, a first variable speed device having an output element, means drivingly connecting said handwheel and elements to the three sides, respectively, of said differential, second variable speed means controlled by said range input element to drive said first variable speed device at a rate proportional to inverse range, and third variable speed means controlled by said handwheel to adjust the speedvarying element of said first variable speed device in accordance with the product of range and range rate of a target being tracked by said range finder.

3. A range regenerating drive as claimed in claim 2, said last-named means including a second differential, having sides directly driven, respectively, by said third variable speed device and said handwheel, and a driving connection from the third side of said second differential to the speed-varying element of said first variable speed device.

4. In a regenerating drive for a range finder, an element adapted for direct mechanical driving connection with the range adjusting element of the finder, a first differential, a handwheel. va first variable speed device having an output element, direct mechanical connections from said handwheel and elements to the three sides, respectively, of said first differential, a second variable speed device having an output connected to drive said first variable speed device, cam means driven by said rst-named element to adjust said second variable speed device in accordance with generated range, and means including a third variable speed device responsive to adjustment of said handwheel, for varying the speed of said rst variable speed device in proportion to the product of instantaneous range and rate of change of range of a moving target tracked by the range finder.

5. In a range regenerative apparatus, a shaft adapted for connection to drive the range adjusting element of a range finder, a handwheel, a first variable speed device, a second variable speed device having its output connected to drive said first variable speed device, means 4driven by said shaft for regulating said second Variable speed device so that its output speed varies inversely in proportion to generated range as represented by turning of said shaft, a third variable speed device, a driving connection between the speed-varying element of said third variable speed device and said handwheel, a first differential, means driving two sides of said rst difEer- REFERENCES CITED ential from said handwheel and the output of said The' following references are of record in the rst variable speed device, respectively, a driving fue of this ptet:

connection from the third side of said dinerential to said shaft, a second dierential, means 5 UNITED STATES PATENTSV driving two sides of said second differential from said handwheel and the output of said third var- 4 n Papne Febngaelgs? iable speed device respectively, and a driving con- 2105985 Papeuo "Jan '18 1938 nection between the third side of said second dif- 2206875 Chafee et Jul'y 9 1940 ferential and the speed-varying element of said i0 2385952 Svoboda Oct 2 1945 first variable speed device.

HERBERT K. WEISS. 

